Short Story: Empty Hearts

After taking a writing-break after finishing NaNoWriMo(as you may have noticed my sidebar I completed my final word target of 18,000 and went over to reach just over 18,700). I felt like doing a bit of writing so here's a short story called Empty Hearts.

A wake a sudden pain in my chest. There are tear stains on my pillow and I slid myself up to look around the room disorientated. My dream seemed so real. So vivid. I pull myself out from being buried under the bed clothes and quietly, not to wake anyone, climb down the ladder of my bunk bed. My sister, Lou, is peaceful in her sleep. The creases in her forehead have disappeared  and all I can think about is what she is dreaming about and whether she will wake up frantic for breath like me. There is a chest underneath the bed, an old chest that is only mine and should never be opened. Unless you've got the genes that flow around my body. That have been passed through generations to reach me. It's still dark out and after a quick glance at the clock I realise that it's only 5 a.m. Good. I need some time. The box is hidden deep underneath the bed, under piles of old clothes and pairs of shoes. I pull it out and it makes a scrapping sound against the floorboards. I stop and wait for the house to come alive with noise but nothing happens. I sigh and relax, crossed-legged on the floor with the chest beside me. It's decorated on the outside: beautiful. Flowers are intertwined with steams to create a pattern that runs along the chest. They are carved into the wood with careful hands, someone with a lot of patience must have done this. They probably had no choice. Something beautiful would never hold things so deadly within in. I shiver creeps down my spine as open up the charm on my wrist and the key undoes itself. Everyone asks me why I never take my bracelet of but I l just start another conversation topic. I place the key into the lock and turn it slowly. I used to get nervous, or continuously cry about why this had to be me. The genes are passed on so, as the eldest in the family it is me that takes them from my father. Or that I did take them from my father. He was overcome by a power and killed but my mother never knew that was the reason. Only I did. The police announced it as natural causes. I can't make any mistakes. Except, I want to hold onto this forever because I feel something stirring inside of me when I open the chest and see them standing before me. I have done bad things for them. I have been reckless. They can move on. I can't. They live inside a world not known to us, locked away in a night-mare of distress and pain until I do what they can't. Rid them of their guilt. These people died with empty hearts, I'm the only one that can clear them of that. If I fail, I join them. Simple.

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~20 Days to go!!~